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NHL general managers, for the most part, aren’t big fans of the shootout.

They recognize its popularity with the fans, but loathe the fact it’s individual rather than team play that determines the outcome of some games.

With that in mind, they are considering expanding overtime from five to 10 minutes in the hopes of reducing the number of games that get to the shootout.

Maybe it will be 10 minutes of the current 4-on-4 play. Maybe it will be five minutes of 4-on-4 and then 3-on-3 for the remaining five.

No decisions were made in Tuesday’s meetings, but discussions will continue in March when the GMs meet in Florida.

“There was a real appetite for different forms of how you would play overtime, being manpower,” said NHL senior vice-president of hockey operations Colin Campbell.

Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland has been pushing the overtime agenda.

“I think there was an appetite in the room from all the managers and also from (commissioner Gary Bettman) to look at a way to extend overtime,” he said. “We’re talking about possibly do we switch (ends), longer changes and do some things to try to maybe have better ice, whether it’s more shovelling or something.”

Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said he was also in favour of expanding overtime.

“I think 4-on-4 overtime is extremely exciting. Regardless of the teams playing, I always find it to be some of the most exciting moments of a game. I’d certainly support extension of 4-on-4,” he said.

When asked if he liked the shootout, he replied: “I think it’s entertaining. Do I like it? I do, but I certainly hope I’m not in a position on the last game of the season and we’re down to a shootout determining if we’re in. That’s happened in the past. I do love it for the entertainment value. I make a point of watching it. So, yes I like it, no, I don’t like it,” he added with a laugh.

Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said he hadn’t made up his mind on the issue.

“I’m kind of on the fence,” he said. “We talked about 4-on-4 and going to 3-on-3. I think any time you can maybe create a more real hockey situation to determine the game, it’s good. I like the shootout. It’s an entertainment factor I think a lot of fans appreciate.”

Among other topics at the meetings:

• Fighting was discussed, but, as expected, there was little momentum to change things.

“We like where our game is at right now,” said Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill. “There are some concerns, but overall the game is good and let’s continue to monitor these situations and decide in March where we’re at.”

Chiarelli touted the deterrent factor of fighting

“I think it’s important for our game, maybe primarily from a deterrent effect. You have to deter a lot of stuff with it,” he said. “There’s different ways to further regulate it and over time that may happen and it probably will. It’s such a deep-rooted part of our game and it plays a certain role. There are incidents and different types of fights that don’t look good.”

Yzerman is an advocate of increasing the penalty for fighting to a game misconduct

“My impression coming out is there is not a real push in that meeting today to make any changes to the rules on fighting,” he said Yzerman.

The general managers didn’t like the optics of the goalie fight between Philadelphia Flyer Ray Emery and Washington Capital Braden Holtby that saw Emery skate the length of the ice to engage the unwilling Holtby. You can expect additional penalties to be introduced for that scenario.

“We discussed it and it was pretty heavily in favour of doing something on that. For me it would be a fairly simple solution that we would come to at some point,” said Chiarelli.

• The league is happy with the new hybrid icing rule. Icings have remained consistent at about 8.5 per game – even with an attainable pass that is missed being called for icing – and there have been no injurious incidents.

• The crossover rule for the playoffs was clarified. It’s possible the two wild cards would both cross over to play the top team in the other division, which would defeat the goal of creating more divisional play and rivalries.

“Ideally, we’d love to have divisional play. We’ve made a change, let’s see how this change works out,” said Yzerman. “If the wildcards have to cross over, they have to cross over but at some point maybe we can get it more divisional at the end of the day.”

The current playoff format won’t change for this season, but it could be tweaked by the GMs in March for next year.

• In the wake of the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal in the NFL, the GMs were reminded to be vigilant about players’ rights to be free from harrassment in the dressing room.

When asked about bullying in the NHL, Yzerman replied: “Just on the ice. We believe in bullying on the ice,” he said with a smile. “Some more than others.”